Playoff football begins this week; various Pikes Peak region schools to represent respective classes
CHSAA seeded brackets for 5A, 4A, 2A and 1A football on Sunday morning and a plethora of area schools will represent the Pikes Peak region in the state playoffs.
Postseason games begin this week and the teams below will battle through their brackets to compete for titles.
5A
First-round bye: No. 8 Pine Creek
The Eagles finished 7-3 under first-year coach David Hedges and closed the regular season on a four-game winning streak.
Pine Creek will face the winner of No. 9 Erie and No. 24 Overland in the second round.
4A
First-round byes: No. 4 Palmer Ridge, No. 7 Mesa Ridge
The Bears ended the year 9-1 and will face either No. 13 Rampart or No. 20 Grand Junction Central in the second round. Mesa Ridge closed the year 7-3 and have No. 10 Monarch or No. 23 Bear Creek in the second round.
No. 17 Loveland (4-6) at No. 16 Doherty (5-5), 1 p.m. Nov. 9
The Spartans return to the postseason for the second time in the past three years and will host a playoff game for the first time since 2013, which was also the last time Doherty earned a playoff victory on the gridiron.
Quarterback Leland Frescaz finished this year 126 of 195 for 1,827 yards and threw for 17 touchdowns and hopes to lead the Spartans to victory.
No. 20 Grand Junction Central (4-6) at No. 13 Rampart (6-4), 1 p.m. Nov. 9
The Rams enter the playoffs for the third consecutive year and won two of their final three contests to close the regular season.
Rampart hopes to duplicate its success against Grand Junction Central in the postseason. In 2023, the Rams defeated the Warriors 48-6 in the first round.
No. 21 Highlands Ranch (5-5) at No. 12 Vista Ridge (6-4), 1 p.m. Nov. 9
The Wolves head to their fourth consecutive playoffs and closed the year with a winning record. Since the school opened in 2008, the Wolves have earned a record of .500 or better each year.
Now Vista Ridge hopes their regular season success carries over to the playoffs. The Wolves earned a postseason win in 2022 and, with a victory this year, will have at least one win in two of the last three playoffs.
No. 22 Air Academy (4-6) at No. 11 Heritage (5-5), 11 a.m. Nov. 9
The Kadets hope for their first playoff victory since 2007 when they earned a 17-14 win against ThunderRidge.
Air Academy will look to Ben Fernengel to power their offense in the matchup with Heritage. Fernengel led the team in rushing and finished the regular season ranked third in 4A in rushing yardage with 1,207 yards and nine touchdowns.
2A
No. 14 Pagosa Springs (5-4) at No. 3 The Classical Academy (9-0), 1 p.m. Nov. 9
The Titans won all nine regular season games by double figures and allowed just 55 points all season.
After allowing a season-high 20 points to Elizabeth in a 35-20 win in Week 3, TCA outscored its opponents 338-6 in the final six contests. During that stretch, the Titans shut out five of their six opponents.
Jackson Schipfer finished the regular season with 64 catches for 566 yards and 12 touchdowns while quarterback Andrew Brown completed 66 of 122 passes with 1,099 yards, 15 touchdowns and two interceptions.
No. 10 Sterling (8-1) at No. 7 Woodland Park (9-0), 1 p.m. Saturday
The Panthers concluded their first-ever perfect regular season with a 34-6 victory on the road at La Junta to earn their ninth consecutive win.
Woodland Park allowed just 78 points this season and gave up seven points or less in each of its final three games.
Sterling enters the playoffs averaging 35 points, but will need to avoid Matteo Pizarro and Parker Shreeve, who have a combined 11 sacks and are both in the top five in 2A in the category.
1A
No. 11 Colorado Springs Christian (5-4) at No. 6 Wiggins (4-5), 1 p.m. Nov. 9
The Lions closed the regular season with wins in two of their final three games and nearly averaged 40 points per contest.
Jace Velasquez has paced the Lions’ offense this season and the quarterback went 126 of 177 for 1,562 yards and 12 touchdowns to just four interceptions with half of those coming in a loss to Buena Vista.
Mikey Orawiec leads the Lions in receptions (27) and receiving yards (502) and scored eight touchdowns for Colorado Springs Christian.
Article has been updated with dates and times for games
